One-hand opening and closing umbrellas



Dec. 15, 1959 v. MILITANO ONE-HAND OPENING AND CLOSING UMBRELLAS Filed Feb. 17, 1958 INVENTOR. I/IIVCENTML ran/0.

2 arrow/5k United States Patent ONE-HAND OPENING AND CLOSING UMBRELLAS VincentMilitauo, Bethpage, N.Y., assignor to The Finkel Umbrella Frame Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application February 17, 1958, Serial No. 715,644

3 Claims. (Cl. 135-22) This invention relates to umbrellas involving telescopic tubes, which umbrella can be opened by pressing down on the ferrule or tip end of the umbrella to cause the tubes to telescope and can be'closed by moving thetubes apart. Such umbrellas are hereinafter referred to as one-hand opening and closing umbrellas. This term is considered apt because the umbrella while the handle is held in one hand can be pressed down, say with the tip engaging a walk or other surface and thus opened. It can be closed by the user holding it in one hand and releasing the spring catch, whereupon, as hereinafter more fully described, the umbrella closes automatically.

Onehand opening and closing umbrellas are well known. They are disclosed, for example, in United States Patents 594,135 of November23, 1897, and 601,096 of March 22, 1898. As heretofore made, they have involved special parts, such as special ribs or stretchers, special design of tubes, etc., which add to the cost of the umbrella.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a one-hand opener and closer umbrella made up of standard parts which is, therefore, more economical to make.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description thereof, in which, for the sake of clarity of description, the parts of the umbrella are described with the umbrella held up right, i.e., the relative position the parts occupy with the handle held by the user and the umbrella cover or canopy above the head of the user. It will be understood that in the specification and claims, where reference is made to upper and lower members, this refers to the relative position of such members when the umbrella is in the aforesaid upright position.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification and showing, for purposes of exemplification, a preferred form of this invention, without limiting the claimed invention to such illustrative instance Figure 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, of an umbrella frame embodying this invention, in closed position;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary (ribs and stretchers are broken away) elevational view of the umbrella frame of Figure 1 in open position; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical section, partly in elevation, on an enlarged scale as compared with the scale of Figures 1 and 2, of the umbrella in the open position.

indicates an umbrella handle of any well known type to which is suitably fastened one end 11 of lower tube 12. Telescoped within lower tube 12 is one end of the upper tube 13, the other end of which may be provided with a suitable ferrule or tip 14.

Pinned to upper tube 13 as at 15 near the upper end thereof is an upper notch 16 to which is pivoted the ribs 17 of any conventional type. A lower notch 18 is fixed to the lower tube 12 as at 19 near the upper end thereof.

The lower notch 18 may be pinned, welded or otherwise fastened to the wall of lower tube 12 so as not to interfere with telescopic movement between the two tubes 12 and 13. Stretchers 21, of any well. known type, have one end pivoted to notch 18 as at 22 and the other end pivoted to laps 23 secured to the ribs 17.

Disposed at the lower end of tube 13 is a. slot 24. Desirably this slot extends about of the circumference of the tube 13. A locking opening or slot 25 is disposed in tube 12 just above the handle 10. A spring catch 26 is provided with a locking hook 27 which when slot 24 is aligned with slot 25 passes through the aligned slots as shown in Figures 2 and 3 to lock the umbrella in open position. By having slot 24 extend about 180 of the circumference of tube 13, alignment of slots 24 and 25 is insured when the umbrella frame is opened. The upper and lower notches 16 and 18 and the ribs and stretche'rs fastened thereto prevent relative turning movement between tubes 13 and 12, such that the slot 24, when the umbrella is opened, willnot align with slot 25, i.e., with this constructionthe slots 24 and 25 must align when the umbrella is open.

A coil spring 28 is positioned between the upper notch 16 and lower notch 18, hearing on these notches which, as noted, are fixed respectively to the upper tube 13 and lower tube 12. Desirably a sleeve 29 encloses spring 28 when the umbrella is in open position. This sleeve 29 is of a length equal to the distance between the upper notch 16 and the lower notch 18 as shown in Figure 3, when the umbrella is in open position. Thus, this sleeve 29 completely covers the spring so that it is concealed from view. Where there are no aesthetic objections to exposing the spring 28, the sleeve 29 may be omitted. Spring 28 may have a preload of the order of 1 to 2 pounds, i.e., in the position shown in Figure 1 spring 28 exerts a force of the order of 1 pound. When compressed in the umbrella open position, it may be under a compress of about 6 pounds.

When the umbrella is in the closed position shown in Figure l sleeve 29 simply floats on the spring 28. The ribs 17 may be covered with a suitable umbrella cover or canopy.

With the umbrella closed as shown in Figure l, the user by grasping handle 10 and placing tip 14 against any suitable surface, e.g., floor, walk or wall, and exerting a pressure on the handle, causes the tubes 12 and 13 to telescope to the position shown in Figure 2. This compresses spring 28 and causes tube 13 to descend to the point where slots 24, 25 are aligned and spring catch 26 enters both slots to lock the umbrella in the open position.

When the user desires to close the open umbrella he may readily do so by depressing spring catch 26. This can be done conveniently while the umbrella is held in one hand; a finger, e.g., thumb of the same hand can be used to depress the spring catch. Movement of the catch causes hook 27 to move out from the aligned slots 24, 25, causing the umbrella to close under the influence of spring 28 which effects restoration of the two tubes 13 and 12 to umbrella closed position. M

It will be noted that all the parts of the umbrella are of standard type commonly available in umbrella factories. No special parts are required. The umbrella of this invention is, therefore, relatively inexpensive to make, and is efiicient in operation, enabling the user to open and close it employing one hand, leaving the other hand free to hold packages, etc.

Since certain changes may be made in the above-described umbrellas and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope of this invention, it is intended that all matter contained lower telescopic tubes slidable relative to each other from an umbrella closed position in which the said tubes are disposed extended relative to each other, to an umbrella open position in which the said tubes are telescoped relative to each other, said upper tube having at its lower end a locking slot arranged to register with a locking slot in said lower tube when the umbrella is in the open position, a catch on the lower tube movable into the registered slots to lock the umbrella in open position, a handle on said lower tube, said slot in said lower tube being disposed adjacent said handle, an upper notch fixed to the upper tube near the upper end thereof, a lower notch fixed to the lower tube near the upper end thereof, ribs pivotally secured to said upper notch, stretchers having one end pivotally fastened to said ribs and the other end pivotally fastened to said lower notch, and a coil spring surrounding said tubes positioned between, bearing on, and confined by said notches, said coil spring being compressed by said notches when the umbrella is in the open position and held in said compressed condition by said catch engaging the aligned locking slots in the upper and lower tubes, said catch being adapted to be actuated by the hand of the user holding the handle to release ,said catch and permit movement of the upper tube rela- 3. An umbrella comprising in combination upper and lower telescopic tubes slidable relative to, each other from an umbrella closed position in which the said tubes are disposed extended relative to each other to an umbrella open position in which the said tubes are disposed telescoped relative to each other, said upper tube having at its lower end a locking slot arranged to register with a locking slot in said lower tube when the umbrella is in the open position, a handle on said lower tube, a spring catch on said lower tube positioned'just above said handle, and arranged to enter said locking slots in said tubes when said slots are in registry, an upper notch fixed to the upper tube near the upper end thereof, a lower notch fixed to the lower tube near the upper end thereof, ribs pivotally secured to said upper notch, stretchers having one end pivotally fastened to said ribs and the other end pivotally fastened to said lower notch, and a coil spring surrounding said tubes positioned between, bearing on, and confined by saidnotches, said coil spring being compressed by said notches when the umbrella is in the open position and being held in said compressed condition by said spring catch engaging the aligned locking openings in the upper and lower tubes, said spring catch being adapted to be actuated by the hand of the user holding the handle to release said catch and permit movement of the upper tube relative to the lower tube under the action of said spring to effect closing of said umbrella.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 594,135 Hall Nov. 23, 1897 2,816,560 Wuster Dec. 17, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 877,187 Germany May 21, 1953 879,457 Germany June 11, 1953 

